Volume 10, Number 2
Apr 1986

Computer News From Australia

The National Library of Australia, the same one that suffered
damage to its computers from a March 1985 fire that involved burning
polyethylene sheets, has completed a feasibility study on a
conservation-oriented database for all kinds of movable artifacts,
but lack of programming resources has delayed its development. There
has been little progress since it was described in CAN
#14.

Dr. Jan Lyall, the new Director of the Preservation Services
Branch (National Library of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 2600,
Australia) sent printouts of terms, objectives and data elements in
the "Conservation Treatments Information System" to the Newsletter
office last September. It covers much more than treatments, and is
designed for use in museums, archives, libraries, historical
collections, and any type of collection. It can store and retrieve
(or will, when it is finished) all kinds of information related to
exhibits, loans, temporary locations, periodic inspections, job
deadlines, work in progress, work completed, and
production/treatment time. It can describe each object by dozens of
attributes; it contains a thesaurus; and it can record treatment
steps and solubility test results, and on and on.

As broadly useful as this program is, it will answer only a few
of the preservation needs of libraries outside of the conservation
lab or rare book room. However, the fact that it is intended to be a
national information system means that even smaller libraries
holding items of intrinsic value will be able to benefit from it,
the same way American research libraries benefit from RLIN, without
having to do the programming themselves. In this way, it facilitates
cooperative effort among institutions in preserving the nation's
most valuable books and documents and artifacts--its cultural
heritage. Perhaps this is the sort of data bank Chris Clarkson had
in mind as a remedy when he complained that it was impossible to
collect even the most rudimentary information concerning the
significance (i.e., intrinsic value) of a particular volume, e.g.

How many like volumes remain intact?
What condition are they in?
Are they in public or private ownership?

(See his article, "The Conservation of Early Books in Codex
Form: A Personal Approach," the Paper Conservator 3
(1978): 33-50.)

Conservation Resources International (Australia), a division of
Haxton Pty. Ltd. (PO) Box 729, Fortitude Valley 4006, Australia) is
advertising a computer package for indexing collections where a
completely freeform index is required. It is designed for use with a
PC/DOS or MS/DOS computer and costs $500. The advertising says it
can be mastered in 20 minutes. Brochure available.

The March Crafts Report says there is a nationwide
computerized registry of craft workers for Australia.